Contact Center Perspectives🎙‪️‬ wow24-7.io

Lauren Volpe, Chief Customer Experience Officer at Zip Co,  emphasizes reframing contact centers from cost centers to value-added assets, highlighting AI's impact on enhancing the experiences of agents and customers. She shares insights from testing AI applications, stresses clear communication about AI benefits with agents, and underscores data analysis for performance improvement. Trust, empowerment, and focusing on the middle customer segment are also discussed to reduce agent turnover and drive revenue growth.
"Those middle customers are a huge growth opportunity, and nobody’s getting involved with them." - Lauren Volpe
By reframing their perspective from viewing contact centers as cost centers to seeing them as investments, organizations can discover new revenue streams and enhance their overall performance. Utilizing AI, examining data, targeting the middle customer segment, and empowering agents are crucial for success in contact centers. By adopting these methods, organizations can improve agent and customer experiences, lower expenses, and ultimately attain superior business results.

Candace Wallace, Chief Customer Officer at Relias, discusses the importance of putting the customer at the center of contact center scaling and the role of self-service in meeting customer needs. She emphasizes the need for personalized experiences based on data analysis and customer feedback. Wallace also explains why downward trends in metrics like CSAT can be beneficial when focusing on complex issues that require live agent assistance. Additionally, she highlights the significance of agent satisfaction and company culture in delivering exceptional customer experiences.
“Your average spend may go up when you consider per agent because the reality is that when you remove the low-complexity items, all that’s left is highly complex, which means you probably need more complex skill sets and competencies than you’ve had before.” - Candace Wallace
Effectively scaling and expanding a contact center requires prioritizing customer experience and understanding interactions across channels and teams. Self-service options and personalized experiences are crucial for meeting customer demands and streamlining interactions. Data analysis helps improve self-service capabilities, reducing handle time and customer effort. Skilled agent intervention is necessary for complex cases, requiring investment in training and proficiency. Nurturing agent satisfaction and fostering a positive company culture is equally vital for delivering exceptional customer experiences and reducing agent turnover.

In this episode, Gemma DePalma, COO of Foria, stresses the significance of forming a well-rounded hybrid customer happiness team. She underscores the importance of integrating this team with other departments like marketing and operations. Gemma offers insights on empowering the team to transform negative experiences, the importance of active listening and empathy, and the effects of agent turnover on company growth. Additionally, she addresses the misconception of contact centers as cost centers and advises on shifting this view to see them as value centers.
“The customer happiness team is a golden nugget that’s overlooked. But if you look at that nugget and make it a whole part of your team, it can impact your business in such a positive way.” - Gemma DePalma
The ultimate ideal customer happiness team is key for any company. By merging teams, valuing outsourced support, and empowering personalized service, companies achieve holistic customer satisfaction. Treating this team as a value, not a cost, lets businesses use feedback for growth and loyalty. Prioritizing customer happiness builds brand image and market distinction.

Patrick Martin, Coveo's EVP of Customer Experience, delves into crafting a seamless customer journey. He stresses consistency across touchpoints, directly impacting a company’s bottom line. Martin draws from a PwC study, highlighting the costs of subpar experiences and the need to adapt to evolving customer demands. AI's integration in service, alongside human agents, is explored, focusing on guided resolutions and future channel efficiencies. The discussion extends to sustaining this excellence even with outsourced support, ensuring a frictionless customer experience end-to-end.
“We now expect easy, frictionless experiences. We expect companies to know us as consumers.”- Patrick Martin
Creating a seamless customer experience is crucial in today’s competitive market. High expectations mean a few bad experiences can drive customers away. To ensure consistency and ease, businesses must unify digital platforms, integrate systems, and focus on effective channel guidance. AI tackles repetitive tasks, while live agents handle complex issues. Outsourcing requires thorough onboarding, system integration, and a smooth customer journey. Prioritizing customer involvement builds loyalty and sets companies apart.
Patrick Martin on LinkedIn

Florian Schroeder, Head of Customer Success at Stepstone, discusses transforming contact centers from cost to value centers. He explores the importance of managing the customer journey, the collaboration between customer success, sales, and leadership, agent turnover, and the impact of contact centers on revenue and the organization's success. Florian emphasizes the need for the right people, proactive customer service, and the use of AI to empower agents.
“If you manage the customer’s loyalty today, you influence tomorrow’s success.” - Florian Schröder.
Florian emphasizes that transforming contact centers from cost centers to value centers requires a proactive approach to managing the customer journey and promoting their value internally. Contact centers can reduce agent turnover and enhance customer satisfaction by hiring the right people, providing competitive salaries, and leveraging AI to empower agents. Ultimately, this shift will increase revenue and customer loyalty, solidifying contact centers as invaluable organizational assets.
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